Messaging system and method

ABSTRACT

A method of cross-platform messaging including receiving, by a messaging system, at least one initial message having a message format, an initial message layout and data indicative of at least one user associated with the at least one initial message, and before delivery to a destination communication device associated with the at least one user, converting, by the messaging system, an initial message into an adapted message, and facilitating, by the messaging system, delivery of the adapted message to the destination communication device. The adapted message is characterized by, at least, an adapted message layout, and the adapted message layout differs from the initial message layout in a characteristic associated with respective message layout such as number of media objects, a graphical image of a media object, a size of a placeholder related to a media object, and a location of a media object within a respective message layout.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a field of electronic messaging and, inparticular, to cross-platform messaging.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The versatility of contemporary electronic messaging services is growingand giving rise to new message formats and new devices with messagingcapabilities. Emerging message formats (e.g. MMS (Multimedia MessageService), SyncML, PoC (Push-to-Talk over Cellular), etc.) arecomplementing the traditional messaging services (e.g., e-mail, ShortMessage Service, instant messaging, etc.). Accordingly, many types ofcommunication devices start to implement messaging capabilities whereassupporting different and not always compatible message and communicationformats.

The problem of cross-platform messaging was recognized in the Prior Artand various systems were developed to provide a solution, for example:

U.S. Pat. No. 6,782,412 (Brophy et al.) entitled “Systems and methodsfor providing unified multimedia communication services” discloses aplatform employing a client/server architecture to provide an extensibleset of real time and messaging communication services to a plurality ofusers. The platform allows the clients to configure and activate theservices as each user wishes, thereby providing individual control overthe communication services. The platform includes a server that allows auser to select how to participate in a communications event. This caninclude control over the end points and media over which thecommunications event occurs. The systems described herein additionallyprovide a framework for developing integrated voice and data servicesthat can be deployed on the platform for extending the servicesavailable to the plurality of clients.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,912,564 (Appelman et al.) entitled “System for instantmessaging the sender and recipients of an e-mail message” disclosestechniques for transferring electronic data between users of acommunications system including a host system structured and arranged toreceive and deliver messages of various types between users of thecommunications system. The host system includes an instant messagingnetwork; a mail gateway; and a configuring network in communication withboth the instant messaging network and the mail gateway. The instantmessaging network enables instant messaging communication between usersof the communications system and has the capability to monitor whether acertain user is capable of receiving an instant message at a particularmoment. The mail gateway receives and delivers e-mail messages to usersof the communications system. The configuring network is dedicated toautomatically configuring instant messaging communication between anintended recipient of an e-mail message and the sender of the e-mailmessage.

US Patent Application No. 2003/158,902 (Volach) entitled “Multimediainstant communication system and method” discloses a rich contentdelivery system including a rich content unit to send multi-mediacommunications generally instantly, a presence unit to communicate withthe messaging unit, and a network access layer to communicate with therich content unit. Also described is a rich content delivery system forwireless devices including a rich content unit to send multi-mediacommunications to wireless devices, a presence unit to communicate withthe rich content unit, and a network access layer to communicate withsaid rich content unit.

US Patent Application No. 2003/191,816 (Landress) entitled “System andmethod for creating and delivering customized multimedia communications”discloses a system and business methodology for providing interactiveand customizable digital full-motion, animated and static multimediacontent, to be used for communicating unique personalized entertainment,information, and messages and advertising to be delivered via theinternet, electronic mail, or any other methods of deliveringinterpersonal communications and messages. The communications andmessages are initiated and received by senders and recipients visiting ahost site of the system through the internet. Content within thecustomized communication includes content personally relevant to a userwhich is integrally associated with sponsorship or advertisinginformation. Creation of a customized communication begins by selectionof a content item by a user, which content may be personalized bygraphical editing techniques. Personalized or non-personalized contentmay be executed in parallel or in series with other content items in amulti-linear playback sequence compiled according to a predeterminedscript to produce a finished customized multimedia communication. Thehost site also provides other features and products desirable to users,such as screensavers, reminder services, etc.

US Patent Application No. 2004/177,117 (Huang) entitled “Method ofsharing multimedia” discloses a multimedia sharing method for emailmessage recipient, involving integrating multimedia file into templateto construct email message that is transmitted to recipient, and openingfile when message is received.

US Patent Application No. 2004/177,119 (Mason et al.) entitled “Systemand method for presence enabled e-mail delivery” discloses atelecommunications system including a network, a destination multimediaserver, and a destination presence server coupled to the network. Aplurality of multimedia clients is also coupled to the network. Themultimedia clients include a presence option and are adapted to be ableto select whether the option is to be activated. In operation, when aclient sends an e-mail to another client, the destination multimediaserver receives the e-mail and determines if the recipient supportspresence. If so, the destination multimedia server sends a query to thedestination presence server to check the recipient's presence. If therecipient is present, the message can be delivered. If not, the messagecan be held on the server until the recipient is present.

US Patent Application No. 2004/267,884 (Sar-Shalom) entitled “Automaticmessaging client launcher for a communication device” discloses anautomatic messaging client launcher for a communication device whichautomatically launches the communication device's messaging client, whenthe device is calling a currently unavailable destination communicationdevice. The automatic messaging client launcher consists of anavailability detector and a messaging initiator. The availabilitydetector determines if the communication device being called isavailable. If the destination device is unavailable, the messaginginitiator launches the messaging client.

US Patent Application No. 2005/15,443 (Levine et al.) entitled “Personalmessage delivery system” discloses a system comprising a plurality ofinterfaces configured to interface with plurality of subscriberscommunication devices using a plurality of formats. A group servicemodule is provided configured to maintain communication among groups ofthe subscribers. A platform conversion module is also provided and iscoupled to the plurality of interfaces and the group services modulesconfigured to connect each of the plurality of the subscribers within agroup, regardless of the communication protocols used by thesubscribers.

US Patent Application No. 2005/33,852 (Tenhunen) entitled “System,apparatus, and method for providing presence boosted message servicereports” discloses a system, apparatus, and method for automaticallyproviding presence information using existing messaging services.Backward messaging such as read reports and delivery reportsautomatically include presence information from presence serveraccording to user preferences contained within profile database. Thepresence information may be disseminated through any messaging service,such as the Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) and is also supported bySession Initiated Protocol (SIP) signalling.

US Patent Application No. 2005/120,309 (Jang) entitled “Method of andapparatus for displaying messages on a mobile terminal” discloses amethod and apparatus simultaneously displaying the main text and/or moreattached filed of a message received in a mobile terminal. Thissimultaneous display allows a user to confirm the main text and attachedfiles in the message. The main text and attached files may be shown inrespective areas of the display.

US Patent application No. 2005/136,953 (Jo et al.) entitled “Userinterface for creating multimedia message of mobile communicationterminal and method thereof” discloses a user interface for creating amultimedia message of a mobile communication terminal in which menufields for creating a multimedia message are displayed in one screen,and when inputting content for each menu field is completed, it isautomatically switched to a multimedia message-creating screen in whicha selecting bar is positioned at the next field. In addition, while auser is using a multimedia function, a current image can be switched tothe multimedia message-creating screen according to a user's need. Thus,the number of user's key manipulations can be reduced in creating themultimedia message, thereby enhancing a user's convenience.

US Patent Application No. 2005/144,236 (Ying) entitled “Identifying adevice to a network” discloses a method comprising: a) receiving one ofa Short Message Service, Enhanced Message Service, Multimedia MessageService, and SyncML message; b) extracting a device identifier from themessage; and c) applying the device identifier to determine a devicestatus. The device comprises information about the device's capabilitiesto receive, process, and display information and location informationabout the location of the mobile device. For example, device informationmay comprise information about the device's graphic displaycapabilities, communication bandwidth, and processor speed while thelocation information may be useful when delivering services to thedevice. Location information may be ‘literal’, e.g. a geographic addressor location, or ‘logical’, e.g. “In a Meeting”, “In Transit”, and so on.The wireless network comprises subscriber information, device status,permissions and media delivery preferences. The media deliverypreferences include information about the manner in which informationshould be communicated to the subscriber. Examples include frame rate,color schemes, visual quality, and visual layout.

US Patent Application No. 2005/144,247 (Christensen et al.), entitled“Method and system for voice on demand private message chat”, disclosesa system and method for establishing a private message chat betweenelectronic devices. The method includes steps of providing an indicationas to the availability of a user for receiving a private message chat;receiving an audio input message from at least one first client; andtransmitting the audio input message to at least one second client overa communications network, wherein the at least one second client canreceive, temporarily store and play back the audio input message. Thefirst client may receive a reply audio input message from the at leastone second client or, receive a reply text input message from the atleast one second client, and subsequently may further communicate backto the second client device via one of audio or text messaging,according to that user's discretion. The transmitting of any audio inputmessage may be accomplished via VoIP or SIP.

US Patent Application No. 2005/159,135 (Kim) entitled “System and methodfor making a multimedia message service compatible with non-supportedterminals” discloses a system and method for making a multimedia messageservice compatible with a non-supported multimedia message terminal. Thesystem comprises a first system for converting a format of a multimediamessage and transmitting a uniform resource locator and an access codeof the converted multimedia message in response to a receiving terminalbeing detected as the non-supported multimedia message terminal. Thesystem further comprises a second system for receiving the convertedmultimedia message, and transmitting the uniform resource locator andthe access code to the non-supported multimedia terminal. Thenon-supported multimedia terminal receives the converted multimediamessage.

US Patent Application No. 2005/235,038 (Donatella et al.) entitled“Method of and apparatus for server-side management of buddy lists”discloses a method of contact lists management in a presence enabledapplication supported by a communication system and having a client sideon a user equipment and a server side within a presence enabled networkaccessible by the users through said communication system, theapplication being of a type in which uses of the application formtime-variable virtual communities of users that temporarily interact forthe purposes of the application. The method includes: users'registration with the server-side of the application, to providecandidates for the virtual communities; creation, from the candidates,of a list of the members of each virtual community in a buddy listmanagement unit in the presence enabled network; notification of thebuddy list by the list management unit to client units in the userequipment of members of the community; and displaying the notified liston the user equipment of each member receiving it.

US Patent Application No. 2005/243,978 (Son et al.) entitled “System andmethod of interworking messages between mobile communication terminals”discloses a system for inter-working messages of a mobile communicationsterminal employing a method of receiving by a first messaging serviceserver a multimedia message sent by a first user client of a firstmessaging service, processing the multimedia message at the firstmessaging service server and at a second messaging service server, andproviding by the second messaging service server the processedmultimedia message to a second user client of a second messagingservice. The message includes a parameter that indicates the originatingmessaging service type or the recipient messaging service type as afield or an indicator in the header portion or body portion of themessage.

US Patent Application No. 2006/53,227 (Ye et al.) entitled “Multi-mediamessaging” discloses methods, systems, and machine-readable mediums forcreating multimedia messaging service (MMS) messages. In one embodiment,the method comprises receiving a message in a first format, adapting themessage to a MMS message, and sending the MMS message to a user device.

US Patent Application No. 2006/146,997 (Qian et al.) entitles“Communications system and method for providing customized messagesbased on presence and preference information” discloses communicationsystems which when a caller requests a communication session, e.g.,voice, text or multimedia, with a callee, but due to the unavailabilityof the callee, the communication session is unable to be established, amessage is generated and transmitted to the caller based only on thecallee's presence information. Current systems have the disadvantagethat they do not allow a callee to provide different presenceinformation to different callers. This disadvantage is overcome by theapplication in that a communication manager which transmits a responseto a caller has access to preference information which includes policiesfor different priority levels of callers. Thereby the response can becustomized to said caller. In particular, the preference information ofthe called subscriber determines the type and amount of the calledsubscriber's presence information that is disclosed to the caller in thecustomized message.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with certain aspects of the present invention, there isprovided a system for message communication via a communication mediabetween one or more originating communication devices assigned to asender and one or more destination communication devices assigned to areceiver, the system comprising an access block configured to receive,directly or indirectly, from at least one originating communicationdevice a message having initial characteristics comprising messageformat and message layout, and to transmit the message to at least onedestination communication device; a media block operatively coupled tosaid access block and configured to adapt, before transmitting, at leastone of said initial characteristics of the message in accordance with atleast one criterion selected from a group comprising:

-   -   i) criterion related to message communication capabilities of        the destination communication device with regard to message        communication capabilities of the originating communication        device;    -   ii) criterion related to message displaying capabilities of the        destination communication device with regard to message        communication capabilities of the originating communication        device;    -   iii) criterion related to the communication media.

The system may be further configured to support at least two destinationcommunication devices assigned to the receiver and further comprise adatabase operatively coupled to the media block and configured to storehistorical information and/or derivatives thereof related to the messagecommunication by the sender and/or the receiver, and a destination blockoperatively coupled to said media block and said database and configuredto process at least part of said historical information with the help ofone or more algorithms, and to estimate, in accordance with certaincriterion, preferred destination communication device among thedestination communication devices assigned to the receiver.

The certain criterion may be related, for example, to predictedavailability of certain destination device among the destinationcommunication devices assigned to the receiver; to predicted reply timefrom certain destination device among the destination communicationdevices assigned to the receiver, one or more combinations thereof, etc.The certain algorithm may be, for example, predictive, learning,adaptive algorithms, combined, etc.

In accordance with further aspects of the present invention, theprocessing further includes processing data related to receiver'spreferences, sender's preferences; indications of actual availability ofthe destination communication devices assigned to the receiver, etc.

In accordance with further aspects of the present invention, the systemmay be further configured to receive a template-based message, saidtemplate characterized by at least unique identifier and an initiallayout, wherein the system further configured to recognize the uniqueidentifier of the template, and the media block is further configured toadapt, before transmitting, the initial layout of the message inaccordance with the recognized unique identifier and displayingcapabilities of the destination communication device.

In accordance with other aspects of the present invention, there isprovided a block configured to obtain a template-based message to becommunicated between one or more originating communication devicesassigned to a sender and one or more destination communication devicesassigned to a receiver, said template characterized by at least uniqueidentifier and an initial layout, wherein said block is furtherconfigured to obtain information related to said unique template'sidentifier, and to adapt the initial layout of the message in accordancewith said unique identifier and displaying capabilities of thedestination communication device.

In accordance with other aspects of the present invention, there isprovided a block configured to obtain a message to be communicatedbetween one or more originating communication devices assigned to asender and one or more destination communication devices assigned to areceiver, wherein said block is further configured to obtain historicalinformation and/or derivatives thereof related to the messagecommunication by the sender and/or the receiver, to process at leastpart of said information with the help of one or more algorithms, and toestimate, in accordance with certain criterion, preferred destinationcommunication device among the destination communication devicesassigned to the receiver.

In accordance with other aspects of the present invention, there isprovided a method of message communication via a messaging systembetween one or more originating communication devices assigned to asender and one or more destination communication devices assigned to areceiver, the method comprising:

-   -   a) before delivery to the receiver, obtaining by a messaging        system a message having initial characteristics comprising        message format and message layout;    -   b) adapting at least one of said initial characteristics of the        message in accordance with at least one criterion selected from        a group comprising:        -   i) criterion related to message communication capabilities            of the destination communication device with regard to            message communication capabilities of the originating            communication device;        -   ii) criterion related to message displaying capabilities of            the destination communication device with regard to message            communication capabilities of the originating communication            device;        -   iii) criterion related to communication media between            originating and destination device;    -   c) facilitating delivery of the adapted message to the receiver.

The method may further comprise obtaining historical information and/orderivatives thereof related to the message communication by the senderand/or the receiver, processing at least part of said historicalinformation with the help of one or more algorithms; and estimating, inaccordance with certain criterion, preferred destination communicationdevice among the destination communication devices assigned to thereceiver.

In accordance with other aspects of the present invention, there isprovided a method of message communication via a messaging systembetween one or more originating communication devices assigned to asender and one or more destination communication devices assigned to areceiver, the method comprising:

-   -   a) before delivery to receiver, obtaining by the messaging        system a template-based message having initial characteristics        comprising message format and message layout; said template        characterized by at least unique identifier and an initial        layout,    -   b) obtaining information related to said unique template's        identifier, and    -   c) adapting the initial layout of the message in accordance with        the said unique identifier and displaying capabilities of the        destination communication device.

Said adapting may be provided, for example, by the messaging systemand/or by the originating device.

The method may further comprise storing the message with initialcharacteristics related to message format and message layout in themessaging system; receiving from the destination device the adaptedmessage received by the receiver and to be forwarded to a forwardingaddress; replacing the adapted message with the corresponding messagestored in the messaging system; and facilitating delivery of the messagewith initial characteristics to the forwarding address. Said replacingmay be provided per the receiver's request.

In accordance with other aspects of the present invention, there isprovided a service center for message communication between one or moreoriginating communication devices assigned to a sender and one or moredestination communication devices assigned to a receiver, the servicecenter facilitating:

-   -   a) before delivery to receiver, obtaining a message having        initial characteristics comprising message format and message        layout;    -   b) adapting at least one of said initial characteristics of the        message in accordance with at least one criterion selected from        a group comprising:        -   i) criterion related to message communication capabilities            of the destination communication device with regard to            message communication capabilities of the originating            communication device;        -   ii) criterion related to message displaying capabilities of            the destination communication device with regard to message            communication capabilities of the originating communication            device;        -   iii) criterion related to communication media between            originating and destination device;    -   c) facilitating delivery of the adapted message to the receiver.

The service center may further facilitate obtaining historicalinformation and/or derivatives thereof related to the messagecommunication by the sender and/or the receiver; processing at leastpart of said historical information with the help of one or morealgorithms; and estimating, in accordance with certain criterion,preferred destination communication device among the destinationcommunication devices assigned to the receiver.

In accordance with other aspects of the present invention, there isprovided a service center for message communication via a messagingsystem between one or more originating communication devices assigned toa sender and one or more destination communication devices assigned to areceiver, the service center facilitating:

-   -   a) before delivery to receiver, obtaining a template-based        message having initial characteristics comprising message format        and message layout; said template characterized by at least        unique identifier and an initial layout,    -   b) obtaining information related to said unique template's        identifier; and    -   c) adapting the initial layout of the message in accordance with        the said unique identifier and displaying capabilities of the        destination communication device.

In accordance with other aspects of the present invention there isprovided a client for a communication device configured to facilitatevia a messaging system a message communication of a originatingcommunication device assigned to a sender and one or more destinationdevices assigned to a receiver, said client being installed atoriginating device configured to facilitate composing a message havinginitial characteristics comprising message format and message layout andadapting at least one of said initial characteristics of the message inaccordance with at least one criterion selected from a group comprising:

-   -   i) criterion related to message communication capabilities of        the destination communication device with regard to message        communication capabilities of the originating communication        device;    -   ii) criterion related to message displaying capabilities of the        destination communication device with regard to message        communication capabilities of the originating communication        device;    -   iii) criterion related to communication media between        originating and destination device;

The client may be configured to obtain historical information and/orderivatives thereof related to the message communication by the senderand/or the receiver, to process at least part of said information withthe help of one or more algorithms, and to estimate, in accordance withcertain criterion, preferred destination communication device among thedestination communication devices assigned to the receiver.

In accordance with other aspects of the present invention, there isprovided a client for a communication device configured to facilitatevia a messaging system a message communication of a originatingcommunication device assigned to a sender and a destination devicesassigned to a receiver, said client being installed at originatingdevice configured to facilitate composing a message using a templatecharacterized by at least unique identifier and an initial layout,wherein said client is further configured to adapt the initial layout ofthe message in accordance with said unique identifier and displayingcapabilities of the destination communication device.

Among advantages of certain aspects of the present invention iscapability of ubiquitous messaging between different types ofcommunication devices via different communication protocols, adaptingthe sending/receiving message in accordance with capabilities of thedestination communication device and the communication media andpreserving user's messaging experience over a spectrum of communicationdevices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to understand the invention and to see how it may be carriedout in practice, certain embodiments will now be described, by way ofnon-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings,in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a generalized diagram of exemplary networkarchitecture supporting message communication in accordance with certainembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a generalized block diagram of a functionalarchitecture of a messaging system in accordance with certainembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a generalized block diagram of a functionalarchitecture of a traffic management server in accordance with certainembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a generalized block diagram of a functionalarchitecture of a destination block in accordance with certainembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a generalized block diagram of a functionalarchitecture of a media block in accordance with certain embodiments ofthe present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a generalized flow chart of operating the messagingsystem in accordance with certain embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a generalized flow diagram of messaging between PCand Web clients in accordance with certain embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 illustrates a generalized flow diagram of messaging betweenmobile WAP and TV clients in accordance with certain embodiments of thepresent invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates a generalized flow diagram of messaging between twocommunication devices in accordance with certain embodiments of thepresent invention;

FIG. 10 illustrates a generalized flow diagram of template-basedmessaging in accordance with certain embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary layout of a message displayed oncellphone screen in accordance with certain embodiments of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary layout of a message displayed on a PCscreen in accordance with certain embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are setforth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention.However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that thepresent invention may be practiced without these specific details. Inother instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuitshave not been described in detail so as not to obscure the presentinvention. In the drawings and description, identical reference numeralsindicate those components that are common to different embodiments orconfigurations.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the followingdiscussions, it is appreciated that throughout the specificationdiscussions utilizing terms such as “processing”, “computing”,“calculating”, “determining”, or the like, refer to the action and/orprocesses of a computer or computing system, or processor or similarelectronic computing device, that manipulate and/or transform datarepresented as physical, such as electronic, quantities within thecomputing system's registers and/or memories into other data, similarlyrepresented as physical quantities within the computing system'smemories, registers or other such information storage, transmission ordisplay devices.

Embodiments of the present invention may use terms such as, processor,computer, apparatus, system, sub-system, module, unit, device (in singleor plural form) for performing the operations herein. This may bespecially constructed for the desired purposes, or it may comprise ageneral purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by acomputer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may bestored in a computer readable storage medium, such as, but not limitedto, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs,Disk-on-Key, smart cards (e.g. SIM, chip cards, etc.), magnetic-opticaldisks, read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs),electrically programmable read-only memories (EPROMs), electricallyerasable and programmable read only memories (EEPROMs), magnetic oroptical cards, or any other type of media suitable for storingelectronic instructions capable of being conveyed via a computer systembus.

The processes/devices presented herein are not inherently related to anyparticular electronic component or other apparatus, unless specificallystated otherwise. Various general purpose components may be used inaccordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient toconstruct a more specialized apparatus to perform the desired method.The desired structure for a variety of these systems will appear fromthe description below. In addition, embodiments of the present inventionare not described with reference to any particular programming language.It will be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may beused to implement the teachings of the inventions as described herein.

The term “communication device” used in this patent specification shouldbe expansively construed to include any kind of CPE (customer premisesequipment) device with messaging communication capabilities, includingthose adapted for coupling with voice, data, video and/or multimediaterminals. The “communication devices” include fixed (e.g. DECT) andcellular phones, personal and other computers, pagers, radio telephones,dedicated data units (e.g. PDA), TV set-up boxes, digital media centers,etc. The communication device may communicate, directly or indirectly,with another communication device or with other devices (e.g. servers,public switches, service platforms, etc.) via all possible networks suchas, e.g. fixed line networks, cellular networks, broadband networks,data communication networks, Internet network, cable networks, etc.using any standard or proprietary protocols supporting messagecommunication.

The term “message” used in this patent specification should beexpansively construed to include any kind of communication objectscapable to be exchanged between communication devices. Saidcommunication objects are characterized by content, format and layout.The message formats include formats fitting e-mail, Short MessageService, instant messaging, EMS, MMS, SyncML, or/and other electronicmessaging services, communication media and protocols thereof. Themessage content may include a text and/or one or more media items to betransmitted to the other party, wherein the media items may include textfiles, image files, moving picture files, sound files, hyperlinks,electronic signatures, etc. in any available formats. The message may besent as one entity, as multiple entities to be re-assembled whenreceived, one or more media items may be replaced by correspondinglinks, etc. The media items contained in the message, when received, maybe displayed as independent objects (e.g. attachments) in accordancewith a predefined layout, in a predetermined order (e.g. in asynchronized multimedia message) or otherwise. Some messages may alsocomprise metadata describing, for example, a structure and/or semanticsof the contained media items. The metadata may carry rules andinstructions (e.g. how the message or parts thereof shall be delivered,played, forwarded, stored, etc.), a counter and any other informationwhich may aid in protecting or initiating commercial or non commercialinteractions with the message. The metadata may also include tagsassociated with the message (e.g. for future filing and/or searching ofmessages and content elements thereof, etc.), “threads” providingassociation with other messages, etc. The metadata may includeinformation related to digital rights pertaining to the message or partsthereof and/or any other predestinated rule.

The term “message template” used in this patent specification should beexpansively construed to include any kind of predefined user interfacerelated to content and/or layout of transmitted and/or received message.Typically the template comprises a pre-existing text, and/or spaces tobe filled and/or media items and/or menu elements and/or buttons and/orcheckboxes to be filled/selected.

The term “criterion” used in this patent specification should beexpansively construed to include any compound criterion, including, forexample, several criteria and/or their combination.

The references cited in the background teach many principles ofintegrated messaging services that are applicable to the presentinvention. Therefore the full contents of these publications areincorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriateteachings of additional or alternative details, features and/ortechnical background.

Bearing this in mind, attention is drawn to FIG. 1 illustrating, by wayof non-limiting example, a generalized diagram of exemplary networkarchitecture supporting message communication in accordance with certainembodiments of the present invention.

Each of communication devices 11 (e.g. IP or regular cellular phone,DECT telephone, personal computer, PDA, TV, etc.) is connected viaappropriate protocol supporting at least one message service to at leastone of the networks selected from the group comprising Internet 12 orother data network, one or more networks 13 operated by a cellularoperator, and one or more networks 14 operated by a landline operator.Some of these networks are connected with one or more other networksdirectly or via one or more networks 15 operated by a service aggregatorand supporting at least one inter-network message service. The networksand/or combinations thereof comprise necessary service platforms (e.g.e-mail server, WAP server, SMSC, etc.) facilitating messagingcommunication known in the prior art, variants and evolution thereof. Inaccordance with certain embodiments of the present invention the messagecommunication between a message originating communication device(referring hereinafter as originating device) and a message destinationcommunication device (referred hereinafter as destination device) isprovided via a system for message communication (referred hereinafter as“messaging system”) 16. The messaging system is connected, directly orvia service aggregator, with one or more networks connected to theoriginating device and one or more networks connected to the destinationdevice. The originating and destination devices may have differentcommunication and displaying capabilities and may use differentcommunication protocols.

Note that the invention is not bound by the specific networkarchitecture described with reference to FIG. 1. Those versed in the artwill readily appreciate that the invention is, likewise, applicable toany network architecture facilitating messaging between communicationdevices. The messaging system(s) may constitute a part of cellularoperator network(s) 13 and/or landline operator network(s) 14 and/orservice aggregator network(s) 15. The functionality of the messageplatform described in the present invention may be implemented in one ormore stand-alone servers or, fully or partly, integrated with one ormore other service and/or application platforms existing in one or morenetworks. The integration may be provided in a different manner andimplemented in software and/or firmware and/or hardware.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is illustrated a generalized blockdiagram of a functional architecture of a messaging system in accordancewith certain embodiments of the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, in accordance with certain embodiments of thepresent invention, one or more originating communication devices areoperatively coupled with one or more destination communication devicesvia the messaging system 16, wherein at least one communication deviceis assigned to a user registered in the messaging system (subscriber).The messaging system 16 may support communication devices with differentcapabilities as well as communicate with 3^(rd) party applications 29.The messaging system is configured to support a variety of messageformats, including, but not limiting, text (including rich text), videoformat (e.g. MPEG family, WMV family, 3GPP, etc.), audio format (e.g.AMR family, MPEG audio layers, AAC, MIDI, etc.), image format (e.g.JPEG, GIF, BMP etc.), and others. The messaging system is configured tofacilitate delivery of the message and/or notification thereof to thedestination device.

The messaging system is also configured to support, at least, thefollowing modes of user's access:

-   -   Using an existing communication interface and/or standard client        of a communication devices (email, SMS, MMS, IM, etc.);    -   Using a dedicated client pre-installed on the communication        device;    -   Using a dedicated client remotely delivered to the communication        device using some web-like browser (Web, WAP, etc).

The dedicated clients may be fully or partly standard and/orproprietary, including clients provided by 3^(rd) parties. In certainembodiments of the invention some functionality of the messaging systemmay be delegated to a client as will be further detailed with referenceto FIGS. 7-9. In certain communication devices functionality (or partthereof) of the client may be implemented also in hardware and/orfirmware.

Accordingly, the messaging system 16 is configured to support differentclients as, for example, mobile clients, PC clients, web clients, TVclients, WAP clients, etc., wherein each of the clients is matched tothe capabilities of the appropriate communication device. Some of theclients may also complement the device capabilities; for example, the TVclient may be based on the middleware of the TV STB and rely on the‘Lean back’ TV approach. The TV client may comprise highly developedmessages scanning and reading options as well as chat or SMS messaging.

The messaging system 16 may be also configured to recognize metadata (ifany) contained in the message and to operate in accordance with systeminstructions related to metadata and/or instructions contains inmetadata. In certain embodiments of the present invention thedestination device may recognize a presence of metadata (e.g. related todigital rights) and send request to the messaging system. The messagingsystem may be, accordingly, configured to receive said request and toprovide the destination device with instructions related to handling themessage and/or parts thereof (e.g. block forward, play, decreasecounter(s), etc.).

The messaging system 16 comprises an access block 21 operatively coupledwith several interconnected (e.g. via one or more buses 215) functionalblocks: a destination block 22, a media block 23, a CRM block 24(optionally) and a control block 25 (optionally). Said functional blocksare operatively coupled (e.g. via one or more buses 216) with a database26, a storage 27 and an administrative block 28 (optionally). Thefunctional blocks may comprise data repository, logic and processingcapabilities related to the function of the block.

The access block 21 includes a users' gateway 211 and 3^(rd) partyapplications' gateway 214 supporting communication with communicationdevices and 3^(rd) party application(s) via corresponding network(s)(e.g. public switched and private fixed line networks, cellularnetworks, broadband networks, data communication networks, Internet,cable networks, etc.) via available communication standard, systemand/or protocol (e.g. XMPP, HTTP, WAP, SMS, MMS, SMTP, etc.) andvariants of evolution thereof. It should be noted that unlessspecifically stated otherwise, the communication with communicationdevice includes communication via device's interface(s), standardclient(s) and/or dedicated client(s) installed at the communicationdevices.

The users' gateway 211 is connected with a traffic management server 213via a cashing layer block 212 also constituting a part of the accessblock. A user can register and thus to become a subscriber as well assubscribe to and/or purchase one or more services or combinationsthereof via the users' gateway. Upon registration the system assigns tothe subscriber a unique identification number (e.g. number of his/hercellular phone), wherein the subscriber may have more than one assignedcommunication devices.

The functionality of the destination block 22 and the media block 23 aswell as the traffic management server 213 will be further detailed withreference to FIGS. 3-5.

In accordance with certain embodiments of the present invention, themessaging system 16 is configured to assign a personal account to thesubscriber. The personal account comprises information related to thesubscriber (including assigned communication devices) and settingsrelated to the purchased/subscribed service(s). A service ischaracterized by a certain set of functions, limits, capabilities,quality of service and other service-related characteristics. The CRMblock 24 is configured to manage and control creation and maintenance ofthe personal accounts. The CRM block further comprises a session manager(not shown). A term “session” used in this patent specification shouldbe expansively construed to include any logical 3-way relationshipbetween two communication devices and the messaging system, wherein atleast one communication device is assigned to a subscriber. It should benoted that, similar to e-mail and/or SMS sessions, the sending part andreceiving parts of the session may be separated in time. A session isstarted by a user and terminated by said user or by the messagingsystem. The CRM block is configured to register session(s)-relatedinformation, to match it with corresponding personal accounts and toprepare data for further billing purposes. The data and/or derivativesthereof obtained by the CRM block may be stored in the database 26.

The control block 25 comprises a privacy/spam manager 251 and digitalrights manager 252. The privacy, spam and the digital rights may becontrolled and/or managed on a system level, subscriber level, grouplevel and/or combination thereof. By way of non-limiting example, thesubscriber may fully or partly deny the privacy rights to the benefitsof another subscriber or subscribers' group; the spam may be controlledper subscriber/subscribers' group settings and/or per overall systemsettings; the digital rights for media items comprised in the messagesmay be managed per subscriber and/or per element (e.g. as combination ofsystem and personal account settings, etc.), etc.

The database 26 stores data related to the subscribers, services,transactions, usage and other information related to the systemoperation. The database is coupled to the media storage device 27. Themedia storage device is configured to store media items contained in theoriginated messages and/or media items converted, if necessary, inaccordance with certain embodiments of the present invention.Appropriate media items may be downloaded to the destination devices viarelevant protocols, including but not limited to HTTP, SMTP, MMS, etc.Certain media items, e.g. items with too large volume for successfuldownloading, may be transmitted to the destination device with the helpof streaming protocols, e.g. RTSP, RTP, etc. In certain embodiments ofthe invention the subscribers may have assigned storage space withconfigurable (e.g. per subscriber category, service, etc.) capacity. Incertain embodiments of the invention the storage device is capable ofon-line storing of originated message (including format, layout andcontent) for further message restoring if/when necessary. In certainembodiments of the present invention the system is configured to storein the storage device 27 one or more media items contained in themessage, while to store at least part of metadata related to the message(e.g. tags, threads, etc.) in the database 26. Among advantages of suchsplitting is reduction of duplicating media items to be stored.

The administration management block 29 is configured to support serviceadministrating (e.g. monitoring, reporting, system's tuning, manual usermanagement, manual content management, system configuration, etc.).

Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the invention isnot bound by the configuration of FIG. 2 also as detailed in followingFIGS. 3-5; equivalent and/or modified functionality may be consolidatedor divided in another manner. In different embodiments of the invention,connection between the blocks and within the blocks may be implementeddirectly or remotely. The connection may be provided via Wire-line,Wireless, cable, Internet, Intranet, or other networks, using anycommunication standard, system and/or protocol and variants or evolutionthereof. Those skilled in the art will also readily appreciate that theinformation related to subscribers, services, and/or usage and/or otherinformation related to the system operation may be stored and managedwithin more than one database, some of these databases may be externalto the system 16 and may be managed by 3^(rd) parties.

Referring to FIG. 3, there is illustrated a generalized block diagram ofa functional architecture of the traffic management server 213. Inaccordance with certain embodiments of the present invention, thetraffic management server 213 is configured to manage the messagedelivery within the messaging system 16. The traffic management serveris configured to serve as an intersection of the system flows and toprovide queues mechanism to manage (e.g. based on J2EE technologies) theflows of the internal traffic (between functional and other blocks andparts thereof) according to pre-defined functional queues, for example,a login queue 31, a registration queue 32, a transcoding queue 33, amedia messaging queue 34, a presence queue 35, etc. For example, inputtraffic to the CRM block 24 is managed via the login queue and theregistration queue, while presence related traffic from CRM block ismanaged via the presence queue also supporting input traffic to thedestination block. The message coming to the message block 23 is passedvia the messaging queue to a message manager 231 and then via thetranscoding queue to the transcoder 232.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is illustrated a generalized blockdiagram of a functional architecture of the destination block 22. Inaccordance with certain embodiments of the present invention, thedestination block comprises a presence manager 221 operatively coupledwith a contacts manager 222 and the database 26, wherein subscriberrelated information contained in the database comprises correspondingcontact lists and history of communication by the originating and/ordestination subscribers, including characteristics of previousdeliveries (destination device, time of originating and delivery, replytime, number of attempts, etc.).

The contacts manager 222 is configured to manage a list of thesubscriber's contacts (including groups). This list includes one or morecommunication devices assigned to said contact persons, capabilities ofsaid devices, sender's and/or receivers' preferences, if any, related todestination device, message layout and/or format, etc. This informationor parts thereof may be stored in the database 26. In certainembodiments of the invention said information or parts thereof and/orderivatives thereof may be stored in one or more external databases, andthe contact manager may have capabilities to access such information.

The presence manager 222 comprises an availability module 42 operativelycoupled with a responsiveness module 41. The availability module iscapable of providing availability indication for one or morecommunication devices assigned to one or more subscribers comprised inthe list managed by the contacts manager 222. The availabilityindication may be provided in accordance with one or more methods knownin the art, combinations, variants and evolutions thereof. In certainembodiments of the invention the destination device may be determinedamong devices assigned to the receiver in accordance with indication ofactual availability of certain device and/or sender/receiver/systempreferences.

The responsiveness module comprises a processor with learning,predictive, adaptive and/or other algorithm capable of processinginformation related to appropriate communication history as stored inthe database 26 and calculating a preferred destination device inaccordance with a certain criterion. Said information may comprise dataon using certain communication device (among assigned to the subscriber)under different circumstances, dependency of reply time of certainreceiving device (among assigned to the receiver) under differentcircumstances, availability of different devices (among assigned to thereceiver) under different circumstances, number of system's deliveryattempts required under different circumstances or otherwise reflectcommunication habits and experience of the sender and/or the receiverand/or the pair thereof. In certain embodiments of the invention thecriterion may be related to expected reply time (e.g. minimal replytime, average reply time, etc.) of different pairs of senders andreceivers and/or pairs among assigned originating and destinationdevices; related to predicted availability (e.g. maximal availability,average availability, etc. of certain destination device among devicesassigned to the receiver), etc. The calculations may further includesender's and/or receiver's preferences (e.g. related to thecommunication devices, message format and layout, etc.); settingscomprised in the message (e.g. in metadata) and/or system and related todelivery instructions, digital rights management, etc.; actualavailability indications provided by availability module and otherparameters. The processing at least part of said information stored inthe database and determining, in accordance with certain criterion,preferred destination communication device among the destinationcommunication devices assigned to the receiver may further includeanalysis of communication habits/experience and/or preferences of acertain group of subscribers comprising the sender and/or receiver,and/or entire subscriber's database, and may, optionally, include datamining. In certain embodiments of the invention the results ofcalculations of preferred destination device and/or derivatives thereofmay be saved in the database for later use.

In accordance with certain embodiments of the present invention and, asdetailed further with reference to FIGS. 6-10, the messaging system isconfigured to obtain delivery instructions in accordance with receivedmessage and destination device, match the message format and layout tothe destination device, and facilitate the delivery. In certainembodiments of the invention if, for some reason, the message isundeliverable to the preferred destination device, the messaging systemis capable to define the destination device with next priority and tomatch the message accordingly. It should be noted that if the message isintended to be sent to several receivers, the process of determining thedestination device and corresponding matching shall be provided in thesimilar manner for each receiver, unless other instructed.

Referring to FIG. 5, there is illustrated a generalized block diagram ofa functional architecture of the media block 23. In accordance withcertain embodiments of the present invention, the media block 23comprises a transcoder 232 operatively coupled with a message manager231 further optionally comprising a template module 51 operativelycoupled with the database 26. The media block is configured to selectthe format and message layout fitting to the destination device and toconvert the message accordingly before facilitating its delivery to thedestination device. As will be further detailed with reference to FIGS.6-10, the converting includes transcoding the message format and/oradapting the message layout. The required transcoding functionalitiesmay be implemented based on different models of transcoders available inthe markets, variants and evolutions thereof (e.g. “Bulk MessagingSystem” (BMS) product Vimatix, briefly described inhttp://www.vimatix.com/bms.htm). The message manager is configured toprovide layout adaptation and/ore repackaging as further detailed withreference to FIGS. 6-10. The transcoding decision is based uponcommunication capabilities between originating and destination device,including supporting protocols, available bandwidth, etc.

Referring to FIG. 6, there is illustrated a generalized flow chart ofoperating the messaging system. In accordance with certain embodimentsof the present invention, the messaging system 16 is connected with thenetworks 13, 14 and/or 15 illustrated in FIG. 1 in a manner that themessage communication originated by the subscriber and/or designated tothe subscriber shall pass through the messaging system. In theillustrated example Subscriber A composes a message at one ofcommunication devices assigned to said subscriber and sends the messageto Subscriber B and Non-subscriber C. As the message is originated bysubscriber, it will be re-addressed to the messaging system 16. Themessaging system receives the message and analyses 61 originating anddestination addresses comprised in the message. If found that thedestination device is assigned to a subscriber (e.g. per domain nameassigned to the subscribers, IP address or other device attribute storedin the database, etc.), the system decides 62 on the destination device,and takes 63 a delivery decision accordingly. As was detailed withreference to FIG. 4, the decision may be provided basing on actual data(e.g. actual availability, preferences, etc.), on predicted or otherwise analyzed data (e.g. predicted availability, predicted preferences,receiver's availability pattern, etc.) or on combination thereof. Thedelivery decision comprises delivery instructions with regard todestination device(s) and/or content and/or format and/or layout of themessage to be delivered. The delivery instructions or parts thereof maybe received with the message (e.g. contained in the metadata), extractedand provided accordingly, and/or may be predefined in the system (e.g.in a form of a lookup table providing matching between originatingdevice and/or destination device and format and/or layout of the messageto be converted for delivery). The non-limiting examples of deliverydecisions will be further illustrated with reference to FIGS. 7-10. Inaccordance with the delivery decision the system provides transcoding ofthe message format 64 and/or adapting layout 65 and appropriaterepackaging 66 if necessary (for example, if limitations bycommunication media and/or destination device, and/or DRM-relatedinstructions or other reasons require deleting or replacing some ofmedia items comprised in the message). The converted message and/ornotification thereof are delivered 67 to the destination device, and thetransaction is registered 68 in the system. The original and/orconverted messages may be stored in the system. The described processmay be provided in a similar manner for several destination devices ifthe message from Subscriber A shall be delivered to several destinationdevices assigned to the same or different receivers.

Those versed in the art will readily appreciate that the illustratedoperational flowchart is, likewise, applicable to message communicationoriginated by a non-subscriber and designated to the subscriber.

The illustrated operational flowchart is also applicable to a messagereplying and/or message forwarding from destination device. Inaccordance with certain embodiments of the present invention the systemmay be further configured to forward the original message stored in thesystem and not the converted message received by the forwarding device.The decision what of these two messages to select may be provided byuser and/or by system in accordance with certain rules (e.g. “use anoriginal message for forwarding mode”, “use a converted message for editand forward mode”, etc.).

Referring to FIG. 7, there is illustrated, by way of non-limitingexample, a generalized flow diagram of messaging between two subscriberswherein the originating device 71 is a desktop PC communicating with adestination PC 74 configured as a browser-based client.

The subscriber A composes a message at originating device 71 and sends711 it to the subscriber B. The assumption of the current scenario isthat the subscriber A does not select the destination device andaddresses the message to the subscriber B in accordance with thesubscriber's unique name registered in the system (e.g. in format<cellular telephone number of subscriber B>@<domain name assigned to themessaging system/service>). The message is passed to the messagingsystem 16 and received via SMTP gateway 72 constituting a functionalpart of the user's gateway 211 in the access block 21. The SMTP gatewayparses the message and sends 712 the message to the traffic server, thetraffic server passes 713 the message to the message managerconstituting a functional part of the media block. In parallel theuser's gateway identifies the originating device and informs thedestination block (not shown). The message manager sends 714 the messagemedia items to be stored in the storage 27 and sends 715 metadatarelated to said media items and/or said message to be stored in the DB26. The message manager sends 716 an origination/destination request tothe traffic server which passes 717 the request to the destination block22. The destination block returns 718 the answer to the message manager.The destination may be defined in a manner detailed with reference toFIG. 4. The traffic manager passes 719 the answer (“PC client”/“webclient” in the current example) to the message manager, and the messagemanager obtains the delivery instructions, including message format andlayout, matching to the destination device. In the current example thedelivery instructions are the following: deliver the message to HTTPserver without changing the message format/layout, and notify thedestination device. Accordingly, the message manager passes 720 themessage to the traffic server and the traffic server passes 721 themessage to the HTTP gateway 73 constituting a functional part of theuser's gateway. Subscriber B receives 722 a notification about themessage and may download its content.

Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that in certainembodiments of the invention the SMTP, HTTP and other gateways andcombinations thereof illustrated in the current and following examplesmay be implemented as physical part(s) of the messaging system, separateunit(s) located in the networks of cellular and/or landline operatorsand/or service integrator(s), or may be fully or partly integrated withone or more devices comprised in said networks.

Referring to FIG. 8, there is illustrated a generalized flow diagram ofmessaging between two subscribers wherein the originating device 81comprises WAP client and the destination device 84 comprises TV client.Similar to the scenario described with reference to FIG. 7, thesubscriber A composes a message at originating device 81 and sends 811it to the subscriber B. The assumption of the current scenario is thatthe subscriber A does not select the destination device and addressesthe message to the subscriber B in accordance with the subscriber'sunique name registered in the system. The message is passed to themessaging system 16 and received via HTTP (WAP) gateway 82 constitutinga functional part of the user's gateway 211 in the access block 21. TheHTTP gateway identifies the originating device, parses the message andsends 812 it to the traffic server, the traffic server passes 813 themessage to the message manager constituting a functional part of themedia block. The message manager sends 814 the message media items to bestored in the storage 27 and sends 815 the related metadata or partthereof to be stored in the DB 26. The message manager sends 816 anorigination/destination request to the traffic server which passes 817the request to the destination block 22. The destination block returns818 the answer to the message manager. The traffic manager passes 819the answer (“WAP client/“TV client” in the current example) to themessage manager, and the message manager obtains the deliveryinstructions, including message format and layout, matching thedestination device/client. In the current example the deliveryinstructions are the following: match the message format to delivery viaSMTP server and message layout to displaying via TV client and notifythe destination device about the message. Accordingly, the messagemanager passes 820 the message to the traffic server and the trafficserver passes 821 the message to the media block 23. The media blockprovides a conversion of message format/layout to those matching thereceived delivery instructions and sends 823 the converted message to bestored in the storage 27 and informs 822 the traffic server. (Ifnecessary for certain implementations of transcoding process, thetranscoder may be further configured to obtain information aboutoriginating device from the user's gateway). Accordingly, the trafficserver informs the message manager (not shown), and the message managerobtains a copy of converted message from the storage and sends it to thetraffic server (not shown). The traffic server passes 824 the message tothe SMTP gateway 83 sending notification 825 to the Subscriber B. TheSubscriber B will receive the notification via local SMTP clientembedded in the TV client and download the message. Alternatively, themedia server may send to the traffic server and, accordingly, to SMTPserver only information related to storage location of the convertedmessage and retrieve said converted message and facilitate its sendingper request received from the subscriber B.

Referring to FIG. 9, there is illustrated a generalized flow diagram ofmessaging between two subscribers wherein the originating device 91 is aPC supporting synchronized multimedia message and the destination device94 is a PC supporting plain messages only. The subscriber A composes 911a synchronized multimedia message at originating device 91 to be sent tosubscriber B. The client in the originating device comprises somefunctionality delegated by the messaging system. By way of non-limitingexample, the originating device is configured to be able to determinethe destination device (e.g. in accordance with subscribers' preferencesand/or subscriber B availability). In certain embodiments of theinvention the client at the originating device may be configured toobtain availability information from the messaging system and/or otherplatform(s). The client may be also configured to request the messagingsystem for information with regard to Subscriber B preferences and/orresults of preferred destination device calculations, and the messagingsystem may be configured to provide such information to the client.After the client obtains information with regard to the destinationdevice, it takes 912 delivery decision and provides the appropriatetranscoding 913 matching (fully or partly) the message to capabilitiesof destination device 94 and communication media. The converted messageis uploaded 914 to the messaging system 16 and received via user'sgateway 211. The gateway parses the message and sends it to the trafficserver, the traffic server passes 915 the message to the messagemanager. The message manager sends 916 the message media items to bestored in the storage 27 and sends 917 the related metadata to be storedin the DB 26. The media block also sends 918 an origination/destinationrequest to the traffic server which passes 919 the request to thedestination block 22. The destination block returns 920 the answer tothe message manager. The traffic manager passes 921 the answer to themessage manager and the message manager obtains the deliveryinstructions. In the current example the delivery instructions are thefollowing: deliver the message without changing the messageformat/layout, and notify the destination device. (In certain cases ifthe client provides only partial matching of message, the system maycomplement the converting process.) Accordingly, the message managerpasses 922 the message to the traffic server and the traffic serverpasses 721 the message to the users' gateway. The gateway sends 922 themessage notification to Subscriber B.

In accordance with further aspects of the present invention, themessaging system may facilitate composing messages using pre-definedtemplates. In accordance with certain embodiments of the presentinvention the messaging system supports different types of templates,including, but not limiting, the illustrated in Table 1. Each type oftemplate and/or each template is provided with unique identifier capableto be recognized by the messaging system and/or client and stored in themessage metadata.

TABLE 1 Template's type Content Structure Direction General Pre-definedtext with capability of composing 1-way multimedia message comprisingone or more media items (e.g., images, audio clips, video clips).Optionally part of media items and/or placeholders thereof may bepre-defined. Greeting-like Pre-defined graphics with capability of 1-wayinserting text and/or media items. Interactive Pre-defined text withcapability to insert one or 2-way message more media items to beselected by receiver for (initial sending in reply. Part of media itemsand/or message and placeholders thereof and/or buttons and/or reply)checkboxes may be pre-defined. Email Pre-defined text with capability ofediting and 1-way attaching media items Text Pre-defined text withcapability of editing 1-way

The templates may be stored in the communication device and/or themessaging system, and may be personalized in accordance withsubscriber's preferences and/or the communication device. Some of thetemplates may include one or more predefined rules and/or wizardsguiding the subscriber through composing template-based messages,prompting input and dynamically updating the output. For example, aninteractive template (e.g. conversation template, voting template,decision template, etc.) may facilitate the message-composing subscriberto select two or more media items to be suggested to the receivingsubscriber as options for selection, ranking, voting or other similaraction and add a text and/or media file for instruction. The messagereceiving subscriber does not need to compose a message for reply,he/she may just provide the expected action (e.g. select certain mediaitem) and, optionally, add text and/or media item. For example, themessage-originating subscriber may place images of different productsand add audio file with a question what to buy. The receiving subscriberupon receiving such message may select appropriate “Yes”/“No”button/checkbox (or, for example, delete non-relevant images) and reply.

The invention, in some of its aspects, is aimed to provide a novelsolution facilitating ubiquitous templates supporting different types oforiginating and destination devices and seamlessly matching thetemplate-based messages to capabilities of the originating and/ordestination devices and subscriber's preferences.

Bearing this in mind, attention is drawn to FIG. 10, illustrating aflowchart of template-based message communication in the messagingsystem described with reference to FIGS. 1-9.

In accordance with certain embodiments of the present invention thesystem and/or client are configured to provide 111 the subscriber with atemplate. The template may be personalized in accordance withsubscriber's preferences. The template may comprise (and/or or enable touse) emotions, visual messages and other non contextual data. Themessaging system is configured to recognize 112 template-based messagesand the template unique identifier comprised in the message metadata,and to analyze 113 the content structure of the template. The messagingsystem obtains 114 a delivery decision in a manner similar to detailedwith reference to FIGS. 6-9 wherein delivery instructions includeinstructions related to template adaptation to displaying capabilitiesof destination device. In accordance with delivery instructions, thesystem provides format transcoding 115 and template adapting 116 andfacilitates the message delivery 117. The template adapting includesconverting the template type and/or template layout. The layout ofcertain template depends on capabilities of destination device as, byway of non-limiting example, is illustrated in Table 2. In accordancewith certain embodiments of the present invention a template serves asan “envelope” for the message during the communication. The system maymatch only envelope (template) or the envelope (template) and themessage itself. Accordingly, for template-based messaging the deliveryinstructions with regard to layout of the message are based onpredefined layout of message matching to template unique identifier andcapabilities of destination device. The layout may be further predefinedin accordance with information to be obtained with regard to certainfilled field, format of selected media items, etc. Among advantages ofcertain aspects of the present invention is reduction in need of contentanalysis and ability to provide layout-related delivery instructionsbased on pre-defined rules and parameters (e.g. in a form of a look-uptable).

In certain embodiments of the invention the type of template incombination with subscriber (or system) preferences may have impact ondecision on destination device and/or format transcoding. For example,the “interactive reply” messages may be required to be always deliveredto the device originated the “interactive initial” message and/or viaprotocol matching to said message type.

TABLE 2 Templates'type Layout for PC Layout for Web Layout forcell-phone General Basic frame Basic frame graphics Basic frame graphicsgraphics Sender's avatar Sender's name Sender's avatar Text Text TextList of clickable For images: list of List of clickable media thumbnailsclickable media, media thumbnails Media display area, reduced for deviceMedia display area reduced for web For audio/video: list Controls forplaying Controls for playing of clickable icons all media all media intoreduced media continuously continuously Reply controls Save mediacontrols Save media controls Forward controls Reply controls Replycontrols Forward controls Forward controls Greeting- Basic frame Basicframe graphics Basic frame graphics like graphics Sender's avatarSender's name Sender's avatar Predefined animated Text Predefinedanimated graphics with text on Predefined reduced graphics with textReply controls animated image Reply controls Forward controls Replycontrols Forward controls Forward controls Interactive initial Basicframe Basic frame graphics Basic frame graphics graphics Sender's avatarSender's name Sender's avatar Text Text Text List of images, List ofimages, List of images reduced for web reduced for device Controls toselect Controls to select Controls to select one one or more of the oneor more of the of the images images images Reply controls Reply controlsReply controls Interactive Basic frame Basic frame graphics Basic framegraphics reply graphics Sender's avatar Sender's name Sender's avatarText Text Text List of images, Selected image, List of images reducedfor web reduced for device Indication for Indication for Reply controlsselected images selected images Reply controls Reply controls EmailBasic frame Basic frame graphics Basic frame graphics graphics Sender'sdetails Sender's details Sender's details Text, truncated Text,truncated Text, truncated Links to attachments Reply controls Links toattachments Reply controls Forward controls Reply controls Forwardcontrols Forward controls Text Basic frame Basic frame graphics Basicframe graphics graphics Sender's avatar Sender's name Sender's avatarText Text Text Reply controls Reply controls Reply controls Forwardcontrols Forward controls Forward controls

If the template-based message is designated to a non-subscriber, thetemplates module 51 extracts the initial template (per template ID) fromthe storage 27, restores information of initial message layout andprovides it for further matching.

Referring to FIGS. 11 and 12, there are illustrated exemplary layouts ofmessages displayed on cell phone and PC screens.

In accordance with further aspects of the present invention, the clientto be downloaded to communication device shall support one or more ofthe following features:

-   -   composing a template-based message (e.g. using drag-and-drop        controls);    -   visual editing of media items (e.g., cropping images and songs)        as part of composing;    -   managing contacts and groups, including contact icons;    -   enabling sending a message by drag-and-drop on contact icons;    -   managing contact privileges and blocking;    -   managing message assigned labels;    -   synchronizing messages between client and messaging system;    -   setting user preferences;    -   automatically providing indication of user's availability;    -   enabling a user to provide manual indications of availability;    -   enabling message sharing between devices assigned for one        subscriber and/or within a group of subscribers.

It should be noted that the invention is not bound by the specificone-to-one scenarios described with reference to FIGS. 6-10. Thoseversed in the art will readily appreciate that the invention is,likewise, applicable to one-to-many and many-to-many messagecommunication, including communication in a group.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited in itsapplication to the details set forth in the description contained hereinor illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of otherembodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways.Hence, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminologyemployed herein are for the purpose of description and should not beregarded as limiting. As such, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the concept upon which this disclosure is based may readily beutilized as a basis for designing other structures, methods, and systemsfor carrying out the several purposes of the present invention.

It will also be understood that the system according to the inventionmay be a suitably programmed computer. Likewise, the inventioncontemplates a computer program being readable by a computer forexecuting the method of the invention. The invention furthercontemplates a machine-readable memory tangibly embodying a program ofinstructions executable by the machine for executing the method of theinvention.

Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that variousmodifications and changes can be applied to the embodiments of theinvention as hereinbefore described without departing from its scope,defined in and by the appended claims.

1-16. (canceled)
 17. A method comprising: receiving, by a system andfrom an originating communication device, a message that includes amedia item; based on receipt of the message, parsing, by the system, themedia item from the message received from the originating communicationdevice; based on parsing the media item from the message received fromthe originating communication device, storing, in a media storage deviceassociated with the system, the media item included in the messagereceived from the originating communication device; managing, by thesystem, privacy and digital rights for the media item stored in themedia storage device; receiving, by the system and from a firstdestination communication device, a first request to access the mediaitem, the first destination communication device being different fromthe originating communication device; based on receipt of the firstrequest to access the media item, evaluating, by the system, the firstrequest against the privacy and digital rights managed for the mediaitem stored in the media storage device; based on evaluation of thefirst request against the privacy and digital rights managed for themedia item stored in the media storage device, determining, by thesystem, to deny the first request due to the privacy and digital rights;based on the determination to deny the first request due to the privacyand digital rights, denying, by the system, the first request receivedfrom the first destination communication device and preventing, by thesystem, the first destination communication device from accessing themedia item stored in the media storage device; receiving, by the systemand from a second destination communication device, a second request toaccess the media item, the second destination communication device beingdifferent from the originating communication device and the firstdestination communication device; based on receipt of the second requestto access the media item, evaluating, by the system, the second requestagainst the privacy and digital rights managed for the media item storedin the media storage device; based on evaluation of the second requestagainst the privacy and digital rights managed for the media item storedin the media storage device, determining, by the system, to allow thesecond request; and based on the determination to allow the secondrequest, facilitating, by the system, delivery of an adapted version ofthe media item to the second destination communication device by:obtaining, by the system, data indicative of displaying capabilities ofthe second destination communication device; adapting, by the system,the media item based on the displaying capabilities of the seconddestination communication device, and transmitting, by the system and tothe second destination communication device, the adapted version of themedia item.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the managing, by thesystem, privacy and digital rights for the media item stored in themedia storage device comprises denying, by the system, privacy rights tothe media item for another subscriber or a group of subscribers.
 19. Themethod of claim 17, wherein the managing, by the system, privacy anddigital rights for the media item stored in the media storage devicecomprises managing digitals rights to the media item per subscriber orper element.
 20. The method of claim 17, wherein the managing, by thesystem, privacy and digital rights for the media item stored in themedia storage device comprises managing, by the system, privacy anddigital rights for the media item on a system level, a subscriber level,or a group level.
 21. The method of claim 17, wherein the media item isan image.
 22. The method of claim 17, wherein the media item is a video.23. The method of claim 22, wherein the transmitting, by the system andto the second destination communication device, the adapted version ofthe media item comprises streaming, by the system and to the seconddestination communication device, the adapted version of the video. 24.The method of claim 17, wherein the originating communication device isassociated with a subscriber of the system that has an assigned storagespace at the system with configurable capacity.
 25. The method of claim17, further comprising tracking, by the system, a history ofcommunication, including deliveries of media items made, for theoriginating communication device, the first destination communicationdevice, and the second destination communication device.
 26. The methodof claim 17: wherein the second destination communication device is asecond destination cellular telephone that includes a client remotelydelivered to the second destination cellular telephone; and wherein thetransmitting, by the system and to the second destination communicationdevice, the adapted version of the media item comprises transmitting, bythe system, the adapted version of the media item through the clientremotely delivered to the second destination cellular telephone.
 27. Asystem comprising: an access block; a media block that is operativelycoupled to the access block; a control block that is operatively coupledto the access block, the control block including a privacy manager and adigital rights manager, and a media storage device, wherein the accessblock is configured to: receive, from an originating communicationdevice, a message that includes a media item, and based on receipt ofthe message, parse the media item from the message received from theoriginating communication device; wherein the media block is configuredto, based on parsing the media item from the message received from theoriginating communication device, store, in the media storage device,the media item included in the message received from the originatingcommunication device; wherein the control block is configured to manageprivacy and digital rights for the media item stored in the mediastorage device; wherein the access block is configured to receive, froma first destination communication device, a first request to access themedia item, the first destination communication device being differentfrom the originating communication device; wherein the control block isconfigured to: based on receipt of the first request to access the mediaitem, evaluate the first request against the privacy and digital rightsmanaged for the media item stored in the media storage device, based onevaluation of the first request against the privacy and digital rightsmanaged for the media item stored in the media storage device, determineto deny the first request due to the privacy and digital rights, andbased on the determination to deny the first request due to the privacyand digital rights, deny the first request received from the firstdestination communication device and prevent the first destinationcommunication device from accessing the media item stored in the mediastorage device; wherein the access block is configured to receive, froma second destination communication device, a second request to accessthe media item, the second destination communication device beingdifferent from the originating communication device and the firstdestination communication device; wherein the control block isconfigured to: based on receipt of the second request to access themedia item, evaluate the second request against the privacy and digitalrights managed for the media item stored in the media storage device,and based on evaluation of the second request against the privacy anddigital rights managed for the media item stored in the media storagedevice, determine to allow the second request; wherein the media blockis configured to: obtain data indicative of displaying capabilities ofthe second destination communication device, and adapt the media itembased on the displaying capabilities of the second destinationcommunication device; and wherein the access block is configured to,based on the determination to allow the second request, facilitatedelivery of an adapted version of the media item to the seconddestination communication device by transmitting, to the seconddestination communication device, the adapted version of the media item.28. The system of claim 27, wherein the control block is configured todeny privacy rights to the media item for another subscriber or a groupof subscribers.
 29. The system of claim 27, wherein the control block isfurther configured to manage the digitals rights to the media item persubscriber or per element.
 30. The system of claim 27, wherein thecontrol block is further configured to manage privacy and digital rightsfor the media item on a system level, a subscriber level, or a grouplevel.
 31. The system of claim 27, wherein the media item is an image.32. The system of claim 27, wherein the media item is a video.
 33. Thesystem of claim 32, wherein the access block is further configured tostream, to the second destination communication device, the adaptedversion of the video.
 34. The system of claim 27, wherein theoriginating communication device is associated with a subscriber of thesystem that has an assigned storage space at the system withconfigurable capacity.
 35. The system of claim 27, further comprising adestination block configured to track a history of communication,including deliveries of media items made, for the originatingcommunication device, the first destination communication device, andthe second destination communication device.
 36. The system of claim 27:wherein the second destination communication device is a seconddestination cellular telephone that includes a client remotely deliveredto the second destination cellular telephone; and wherein the accessblock is further configured to transmit the adapted version of the mediaitem through the client remotely delivered to the second destinationcellular telephone.
 37. A system comprising: at least one processor, andat least one computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that,when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least oneprocessor to perform operations comprising: receiving, from anoriginating communication device, a message that includes a media item;based on receipt of the message, parsing the media item from the messagereceived from the originating communication device; based on parsing themedia item from the message received from the originating communicationdevice, storing, in the at least one computer-readable storage medium,the media item included in the message received from the originatingcommunication device; managing privacy and digital rights for the mediaitem stored in the at least one computer-readable storage medium;receiving, from a first destination communication device, a firstrequest to access the media item, the first destination communicationdevice being different from the originating communication device; basedon receipt of the first request to access the media item, evaluating thefirst request against the privacy and digital rights managed for themedia item stored in the at least one computer-readable storage medium;based on evaluation of the first request against the privacy and digitalrights managed for the media item stored in the at least onecomputer-readable storage medium, determining to deny the first requestdue to the privacy and digital rights; based on the determination todeny the first request due to the privacy and digital rights, denyingthe first request received from the first destination communicationdevice and preventing the first destination communication device fromaccessing the media item stored in the at least one computer-readablestorage medium; receiving, from a second destination communicationdevice, a second request to access the media item, the seconddestination communication device being different from the originatingcommunication device and the first destination communication device;based on receipt of the second request to access the media item,evaluating the second request against the privacy and digital rightsmanaged for the media item stored in the at least one computer-readablestorage medium; based on evaluation of the second request against theprivacy and digital rights managed for the media item stored in the atleast one computer-readable storage medium, determining to allow thesecond request; and based on the determination to allow the secondrequest, facilitating delivery of an adapted version of the media itemto the second destination communication device by: obtaining dataindicative of displaying capabilities of the second destinationcommunication device; adapting the media item based on the displayingcapabilities of the second destination communication device, andtransmitting, to the second destination communication device, theadapted version of the media item.
 38. A system comprising: means forreceiving, from an originating communication device, a message thatincludes a media item; means for, based on receipt of the message,parsing the media item from the message received from the originatingcommunication device; means for, based on parsing the media item fromthe message received from the originating communication device, storing,in the at least one computer-readable storage medium, the media itemincluded in the message received from the originating communicationdevice; means for managing privacy and digital rights for the media itemstored in the at least one computer-readable storage medium; means forreceiving, from a first destination communication device, a firstrequest to access the media item, the first destination communicationdevice being different from the originating communication device; meansfor, based on receipt of the first request to access the media item,evaluating the first request against the privacy and digital rightsmanaged for the media item stored in the at least one computer-readablestorage medium; means for, based on evaluation of the first requestagainst the privacy and digital rights managed for the media item storedin the at least one computer-readable storage medium, determining todeny the first request due to the privacy and digital rights; means for,based on the determination to deny the first request due to the privacyand digital rights, denying the first request received from the firstdestination communication device and preventing the first destinationcommunication device from accessing the media item stored in the atleast one computer-readable storage medium; means for receiving, from asecond destination communication device, a second request to access themedia item, the second destination communication device being differentfrom the originating communication device and the first destinationcommunication device; means for, based on receipt of the second requestto access the media item, evaluating the second request against theprivacy and digital rights managed for the media item stored in the atleast one computer-readable storage medium; means for, based onevaluation of the second request against the privacy and digital rightsmanaged for the media item stored in the at least one computer-readablestorage medium, determining to allow the second request; and means for,based on the determination to allow the second request, facilitatingdelivery of an adapted version of the media item to the seconddestination communication device by: obtaining data indicative ofdisplaying capabilities of the second destination communication device;adapting the media item based on the displaying capabilities of thesecond destination communication device, and transmitting, to the seconddestination communication device, the adapted version of the media item.